The Ties That Bind
by Above the Winter Moonlight
Summary: Shadow magic is not the only power out there. A dangerous new enemy seeks to unleash a power that is not ready to be awakened. Meanwhile, Ryou Bakura struggles to care for and protect his estranged aunt's six-year-old son and a betrayed assassin seeks retribution. [Very AU, post-Battle City, slash/yaoi (Thiefshipping)]


**Here is the first of the two brand-new stories that I am posting today. This one was the one with the most votes on my poll while the second one was a close second.**

 **Okay, notes for this story as mentioned in the summary:**

 **Very AU:** This is pretty self-explanatory; AU means Alternate Universe. This basically means that I have changed things so this story is non-canon compliant (meaning, it takes things from the anime [the subbed version] as well as Season 0 but not everything). An example would be Yami Bakura escaping his Penalty Game a lot sooner and Ryou having the Millennium Ring and Ryou's father actually playing a slightly larger role than he does in the actual anime (as in, he will actually be around for a couple of chapters). Plus, I did alter Yami Bakura's past a bit, though you won't know how until later on in the story. I've also altered the timeline; therefore, the events of GX take place ten years following Battle City rather than the Ceremonial Duel as it is in canon. Plus, I also did alter Judai's past as well for the purposes of this story, not by much, but there are some differences.

 **Post-Battle City:** Again, pretty self-explanatory. This basically means it takes place between Battle City and the DOMA arc of _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ and I've taken the liberty of extending that timeframe, since it isn't quite that long in canon.

 **Slash/yaoi (Thiefshipping):** This is just a warning since I am absolutely positive there will be Thiefshipping in this story, even if it's not explicit. Please see Pairings below.

 **Other notes for this story:**

 **Genre:** This is a family/drama/suspense story with humor and action tossed into the mix.

 **Rating:** PG 13 or T. This story is intended for people at least age thirteen and older mostly because of the language that is used but, since I have Yami Bakura in this story and I am following the Japanese subbed version of _Yu-Gi-Oh!,_ that really shouldn't be that big of a surprise. Still, this rating is mostly for language, violence and safety.

 **OCs:** There are OCs in this story. Some are only mentioned a few times and some will make appearances throughout the story but won't be major characters. There are only a few major OC characters whom will be revealed in time.

 **Pairings:** Since this story mostly focuses on the brotherly-familial relationship between Judai and Ryou, there won't be any explicit pairings; at least, not in the romantic sense. There will be hints of Polarshipping (Jonouchi/Mai), Silentshipping (Seto/Shizuka) and Thiefshipping (Yami Bakura/Marik) though, but, as this story will be mostly from the perspective of Ryou, Judai, Yubel, Yami Bakura and some of the OC antagonists, it won't be explicit.

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and I never have nor will I ever and I am only saying this once so I will not repeat it in later chapters._

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 **The Ties That Bind**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 **1**

 **The Foster Home**

The little boy sat in the corner, watching the other foster children under her care play with each other, clutching a single card in his hand. Akimoto Akane knew that, for some reason, that card had been a source of comfort for him. She figured it was because it was one of only two things that he had on him, two things that were the only things he had left of his parents.

It was early afternoon and rays of sunlight were streaming in through the windows as the children played with each other, none of them paying much attention to the little boy in the corner. Some had tried to approach him before but when they asked if he wanted to play, he just shook his head mutely. Akane told them that he just needed some time.

Only a day had gone by since the boy had witnessed the murder of his parents after all and, though the other children didn't know that, Akane did. She had been told the entire story of what happened when the small boy had been brought to her to take care of until his last living relatives could be contacted.

Akane had been a close friend of Yuki Mika, the boy's mother, and had gladly accepted the boy as her charge for the time being. She had been greatly saddened when she learned of her friend's murder, and even more disheartened when she learned that the murderer had gotten away, but she promised herself that she would take care of her friend's child.

Mika had always been there for Akane when she needed her the most; it was time she paid her friend back for her kindness.

"All right, everyone, it's time for dinner," Akane called as she stepped into the playroom.

The children cheered and the oldest child, a ten-year-old red-haired girl named Bianca, ran over to join Akane. "Do you need any help, Akane- _san_?" she asked politely.

"Yes, could you please help the others get washed up?" Akane asked gently.

"Sure." Bianca ran back over to the other children and began ushering them toward the nearest bathroom. The little boy in the corner remained motionless, seeming to not have heard Akane. Bianca started toward him but stopped when Akane shook her head.

"I'll get him, Bianca- _chan_ ," she said.

"Okay," Bianca said, though she did cast a concerned look at the little boy. He was one of the youngest there and Bianca was old enough to know that something must have happened based on how the boy was acting. He hadn't spoken a word since the murders took place; the other children didn't even know his name.

Akane only knew because of the boy's birth certificate and other papers that had been given to her by the boy's social worker.

She walked over to join the boy and knelt down beside him. "It's time for dinner, Judai- _kun_ ," she said gently.

The little boy lifted his brown eyes to gaze at Akane and, mutely, he nodded before he slowly got to his feet.

Akane held out a hand and Judai slowly placed his little hand in it and let the tall dark-purple haired woman guide him out of the playroom. She led him to the bathroom as Bianca led the other children out of it. Bianca gave Judai a small smile and then guided the other children away, missing the slight smile Judai gave back to her.

In the bathroom, Akane reached for the card that Judai would not let go of and Judai, with a wary look, slowly handed the card over. Akane gently placed it in her pocket. "I'll give it back after you've washed up," she assured him.

The boy studied her for a moment before he nodded and Akane helped him to wash up, mostly making sure he didn't fall since he was still a bit too small to reach the sink without something to stand on. After washing up, Akane handed him the card back and then guided him into the dining room where all the other children were already gathered.

Akane guided Judai toward the only available seat, beside a seven-year-old boy with black hair with a thick streak of bright red going over his brow and pale-blue eyes. The other boy, Hara Takumi, smiled at the boy who gave him a tentative smile in return as he sat down.

"What're we having today, Akane- _san_?" another of the children, Bianca's six-year-old sister Emily, asked.

"How does lasagna sound?" Akane said.

The children cheered. They loved Akane's lasagna. Though they lived in Japan, Akane wasn't about to waste the chance to introduce the children in her care to other kinds of food and, thankfully, she knew quite a few recipes from several different cultures. The benefits of graduating from cooking school before she became a foster mother.

Akane, with Bianca's help, handed out the plates of food and they all began eating and talking with each other. The children chattered excitedly about a variety of things; the older children had started talking about some Duel Monsters tournament that just ended and Judai perked up at that.

"Yeah, we weren't able to see the entire duel though but those Egyptian God cards were so cool," a blue-haired nine-year-old girl named Sana said with a bright smile.

Judai was listening intently to Sana describe the portion of the duel she had seen before it had cut out.

The phone rang at that moment and Akane stood up. "I will be right back," she said and left the dining room, entering the kitchen and picking up the phone. "Hello?"

" _Hello Akane-_ san _._ " Akane recognized the voice as Nakamura Rina, Judai's social worker whom was in charge of handling the matters of whom would gain custody of Judai.

"Hello Rina- _san_ , any news?" Akane asked.

" _Nothing yet. We've learned that Judai's uncle is his only living relative and he's been out of the country on a business meeting. We got in contact with his son and he doesn't know when his dad will be back,_ " Rina said.

Akane nodded. "All right," she said.

" _I'll keep you updated but I think it might take a while to get in contact with him,_ " Rina said.

"I understand."

" _Good day, Akane-_ san _._ "

"Good day." Akane hung up and returned to the dining room.

"What was that about?" Emily asked curiously, tilting her head to the side.

"Grown-up stuff," Akane said.

Emily wrinkled her nose at that and returned her attention to Sana who had started talking about another duel that took place in the tournament that had just ended.

Akane ate in silence, eyes observing the children as they listened to Sana's story.

 **. . .**

It was the first week of April and Akane had just seen the children off to the nearby elementary school when the phone rang. She waved to Bianca and Sana who were walking with the kids; the school was only two blocks away from Akane's home so they agreed to walk and enjoy the warm spring day.

Closing the door, Akane walked into the kitchen and answered the phone. "Hello?" she said into it.

" _Hello, Akane-_ san _,_ " Rina greeted her.

"Rina- _san_. I'm assuming you have news," Akane said, leaning against the wall with the receiver resting against her ear.

" _Yes. We've finally got into contact with Bakura Isamu, Judai's uncle on his mother's side,_ " Rina said. " _He just returned from an archaeological dig in Egypt a few days ago. I told him everything that happened and that his nephew was alive._ "

"And did he agree to take in Judai- _kun_?" Akane asked.

" _He said that he's willing to take in Judai-_ kun _and wants to meet him whenever it can be arranged,_ " Rina said. " _I was thinking, perhaps this weekend? Bakura-_ san _and his son will have to come here from Domino City._ "

"I think that will work, yes," Akane said. "I'll tell Judai- _kun_ the good news when he gets home from school."

" _Then I will see you this weekend,_ " Rina said. " _Have a good day._ "

"You too," Akane replied and hung up once she heard the _click_. She then walked back into the living room.

Later that day, the door opened and Bianca and Sana walked into the living with Takumi, Emily and Judai right behind them. "Hi Akane- _san_ ," Sana said with a wave.

"Hello Sana- _kun_ ," Akane greeted her. "Judai- _kun_ , I'd like to speak with you."

"Oh, you're in trouble," Takumi teased.

Judai stuck out his tongue at Takumi and pouted. "I am not," he said. It had taken Judai a full week to get comfortable enough with the other children to start speaking to them; Takumi had been the first one that Judai started talking to and then he started talking with the others as well. He still thought about his parents and still had nightmares about what happened but he was starting to overcome it.

"Are too," Takumi said.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Children, behave," Akane scolded them gently.

"He started it," Judai and Takumi said at once, pointing at the other.

Emily giggled.

"C'mon, Em, Takumi, let's go outside and play," Sana suggested.

"Okay!" Emily said excitedly and dashed out of the house before Akane had time to remind her to walk.

Bianca, Sana and Takumi followed her while Judai suddenly looked anxious, gazing up at Akane with wary eyes. "Am I in trouble?" he asked.

"No, you're not, Judai- _kun_ ," Akane assured him. "But I've got some news for you. You remember Rina- _san_ , right?"

Judai nodded.

"Well, she finally got into contact with your uncle, your mother's brother," Akane said with a smile. "And he said that he is willing to take you in and wants to meet you."

"Does that mean I gotta leave?" the little boy asked, looking sad.

"Nothing's set in stone yet but he is family. We've decided that he can meet you this weekend. I'm sure you will get along very well," Akane said.

Judai nodded. "Can I go play now?" he asked.

"Go ahead," Akane said and Judai scampered out of the living room.

 **. . .**

Judai joined Takumi and the other children in the backyard. They were all playing tag and Takumi, who was it, jogged up to Judai. "Hi, Judai- _kun_ ," he greeted him. "You okay?" He studied Judai curiously.

"I'm gonna be leaving soon," Judai said simply. He knew that his stay with Ms. Akane was only for a short time and had been expecting this day to come; he was going to miss Takumi and the other children though.

"Oh." Takumi looked sad and then he brightened and said, "We'll still be friends, right?"

Judai smiled back at him. "Of course," he said brightly.

"Great, tag, you're it," Takumi said, poking Judai's shoulder and taking off running.

Judai giggled and dashed after him and the other children.

He and the other children played for the rest of the day before they were called inside by Akane who told them they should get started on their homework before dinner. Judai and Takumi found themselves lying on their stomach in their room, doing their homework and occasionally talking.

Though they weren't aware of it, someone was also watching over them. A spirit was floating in the corner of the room. Her body was half-male and half-female with pale-purple skin in a black outfit that covered the majority of her skin. She had spiky dual-colored hair with one half blue and the other half white and her eyes were two colors, one was blue while the other was orange. She also had blue lips, a third red eye placed in the middle of her forehead and large demonic black wings jutting out of her back.

This was Yubel.

Yubel smiled softly as she gazed at the small form of the child she cared for very much. She knew that little Judai had been hurt very deeply when his parents were taken away from him and she had resolved, when it happened, to be there to help him overcome it. And she had, though she knew that Judai didn't exactly understand the concept of duel spirits yet. He thought Yubel was simply one of his imaginary friends whom helped him to come to terms with his parents' deaths and she let him.

While observing the small boy, Yubel thought about what she had learned from her little Judai's foster mother, about how Judai's uncle had been found and that he was going to come by to meet Judai. The uncle was Judai's family and she hoped that he would treat Judai kindly like Judai's parents had because if not, she wouldn't be happy at all. She was very protective of Judai after all.

"Hey, Judai- _kun_ , I got you somethin'," Takumi said suddenly.

"What?" Judai asked curiously.

Takumi got to his feet and walked over to his side of the room. He pulled out the box under his bed and dug through it before he found something and pulled a single card out of it. He returned to Judai and held out the card.

"You like these kinds of cards and I thought you'd like this," the seven-year-old said.

Judai took the card. "Elemental Hero Knospe? I like it," he said with a bright smile. He didn't have many Duel Monster cards, though he had started getting some after he came to stay with Akimoto Akane; before that, Yubel was the only card he had.

"Thanks," Judai added.

"Welcome," Takumi said with a smile before he flopped back down on his stomach and went back to working on his homework.

Judai did so as well, resting the card beside him as he did so and giggling when the spirit of said card materialized in front of him and waved a rose-bud hand in greeting.

Yubel was glad that little Judai was happy and she hoped that he would remain that way for a long time.

 **. . .**

The weekend came all too quickly. While the rest of the children were outside, Judai was seated in the living room reading a picture book to himself and occasionally chatting with either Yubel or Knospe whom seemed to have taken a liking to Judai and kept materializing. Since she was the only other monster card that Judai had, it wasn't that big of a surprise; granted, Judai still didn't know that his 'imaginary friends' were actually the spirits of his duel monster cards.

There was a knock on the door and Akane, who had been in the kitchen, walked out of it, drying her hands. She opened the door and smiled. "Rina- _san_ , please come in," she said.

"Thank you," Rina's familiar voice said.

Judai glanced up as the familiar blonde form of Rina walked into the living room. She was followed by two others; a tall man with dark-blue hair and brown eyes and a shorter teenager with long white hair and the same brown-colored eyes.

Judai waved. "Hi Rina," he said with a bright smile.

"Hello Judai- _kun_ , and how are you?" Rina asked gently while the other two introduced themselves to Akane with small bows.

"I'm good!"

Rina smiled as she walked over to join Judai. "Judai- _kun_ , there's someone who wants to meet you," she said, holding out a hand.

Judai closed the picture book and put it aside while Knospe's and Yubel's spirit vanished. He took Rina's hand and let her guide him to where the other two newcomers were standing; he was suddenly nervous and shy, as he always was when he met someone new.

"Judai, this is your _oji-san_ ," Rina said, gesturing to the blue-haired man.

The blue-haired man smiled and knelt down in front of Judai. "Hello, Judai- _kun_ ," he greeted the little boy. "You've grown so much since I last saw you, though you were just a baby then, and you look so much like your mother."

Judai blinked as tears appeared in his eyes. "I do?" he asked.

His uncle nodded. "Yes, you do," he said, holding out a hand to Judai who gingerly took it. "You can call me _oji-san_. This is my son, Ryou- _san_." He gestured to the white-haired teenager who was standing at his side.

Judai looked at the teenager who gave him a smile, his brown eyes were warm and gentle. Judai titled his head to the side as he observed the older boy and smiled. "Hi," he said, waving.

"Hello Judai- _kun_ ," Ryou greeted him, kneeling down so that he was at eye-level with the small boy.

Judai held out a tiny hand. "Wanna play?" he asked.

Ryou smiled at him and gently took the small hand. "Sure," he said.

"Can we, Akane- _san_?" Judai asked.

"Go ahead," Akane said.

Judai beamed and guided the taller boy out of the room.

Isamu watched and then stood up and turned to Akane and Rina. "How has he been?" he asked. "It must not have been easy for him."

"No, it hasn't," Akane said. "He was pretty in shock for the first week or so but slowly he started to open up. He still has nightmares about what happened but he's coming to terms with it, slowly."

"That's good," Isamu said, relieved.

"Let's go to the kitchen and talk. Do you want something to drink?" Akane asked.

"No, thank you," Isamu said as he and Rina followed Akane into the kitchen.

 **. . .**

Bakura Ryou couldn't help but smile down at the small boy that was dragging him through the house; of course, Ryou was letting the boy guide him through the house. There was just something about his little cousin that caused him to smile. Maybe it was because Judai reminded him a bit of himself when he was that young.

One thing Ryou was thankful for was that the spirit of the Ring had been pretty quiet since the end of Battle City, and since Ryou had put the Ring back on now that he thought about it. He knew the spirit was still there, he could feel him, but he hadn't done anything and Ryou was no longer experiencing memory lapses, which was good. Ryou was still concerned with how Yami Bakura would act now that he knew that Judai would be living with them from now on.

\ _I did not agree to this,_ / Yami Bakura's voice growled in the back of Ryou's head.

Ryou ignored it. It didn't matter if the spirit of the Ring agreed with the decision or not, it wasn't Ryou's call; it was his father's and his father wanted to take care of Judai.

 _"He's family, Ryou._ "

Ryou agreed with his father's decision. Judai was family after all and family took care of family. And since the decision was his father's, Yami Bakura really had no say in the matter, which was something that upset him quite a bit.

\ _Hn, that little brat better not be a nuisance,_ / Yami Bakura muttered and then fell silent.

Ryou resisted the urge to sigh but he really hadn't expected anything else from Yami Bakura. "Where are we going, Judai- _kun_?" he asked his little cousin.

"I wanna find Takumi. Then we can play hide and seek," Judai said brightly.

Ryou, figuring Takumi was Judai's friend, just nodded and followed Judai's lead. The house wasn't very big so it didn't take them long to find the black-and-red haired boy that Judai revealed was Takumi.

"Hi," Takumi said when he spotted Ryou. "So you're Judai- _kun_ 's cousin?"

Ryou nodded.

"Cool, we gonna play hide and seek?" Takumi asked, glancing at Judai.

"Yeah," Judai said eagerly and then glanced at Ryou. "Will you count?"

Ryou smiled. "All right," he said.

Judai cheered.

 **. . .**

While Ryou was playing with the children, Akane was discussing things with Isamu and Rina, going over everything they needed to go over before they made the final decision of whether it would be in the best interest of Judai to let him live with Isamu Bakura. Rina noted that Isamu Bakura did have a well-paying job but she was a bit concerned with the fact that the job did take him out of the country several times out of the year.

"He won't be home alone while I'm gone," Isamu said. "My son will be there most of the time, except when he's at school; then, we can hire a babysitter until he gets out. He's sixteen and will be turning seventeen September second (1) and he is very responsible."

Rina nodded slowly. "Judai- _kun_ is a child though," she pointed out. "He needs some consistency in his life and he'll need some time to get adjusted to his new family."

"I know. When I heard about Mika's death, I decided to take some months off to take care of Judai- _kun_ and help him adjust. It's going to take me time to come to terms with what happened to her too," Isamu said before he sighed and added, "I haven't seen her in years, not since she brought Judai- _kun_ over to see me when he was only about a month old. I wish I could have seen her once more before..." He trailed off and went quiet, silently mourning the loss of his sister.

Rina and Akane let him have a few minutes before Akane said, "I think we should let Judai- _kun_ have a say in this. He is the one most affected by this."

Rina nodded. "I agree," she said.

Akane knew that the final decision would actually be Judai's social worker, since Judai was much too young to make the decision himself, but she also knew that Rina would listen to Judai's opinion and take it into consideration.

"We can talk to him now," Akane suggested.

Rina and Isamu nodded in agreement and stood up from the table.

 **. . .**

Ryou scanned the hall he was standing in, wondering where in the world his cousin and his cousin's friend were. They were rather small and there were quite a few places that the boys could hide that would keep them from being found. He wasn't worried or anything like that; he had only been playing the game for about five minutes after all.

He smiled sadly as he remembered playing this game with Amane back when they were young. He missed his little sister so much!

\ _Hmph, you're getting sentimental again, yadonushi,_ / Yami Bakura scoffed in the back of his head.

 _Haven't you ever missed someone before?_ Ryou asked as he wandered into one of the rooms and looked around, keeping his ears peeled out for any noise that could indicate where the two children were. Or where the other children were at that; the other children who were staying at that foster home had noticed Judai and Takumi were playing hide and seek and wanted to join in.

Yami Bakura did not respond to that and Ryou wondered if he struck a nerve or not. He really didn't know. While he could hear Yami Bakura talk to him in his mind—when the spirit wanted to speak to him that was—he could never feel what the spirit was feeling or hear what the spirit was thinking. Though it had changed and become much more tolerable since Battle City, their relationship was nowhere near as close as Yugi's relationship with the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle.

Ryou decided to focus on finding the children and, when he heard a little giggle, he smiled before walking around the bed in the room and then kneeling down and peering under it. "Found you," he said to the little girl who was lying under the bed.

"Aww man," the little girl whined as she crawled out from under the bed.

Ryou chuckled and helped the girl to her feet before kneeling down in front of her. "Hey, wanna help me find the others?" he said.

The little girl grinned and nodded eagerly.

Ryou smiled again. "So what's your name?" he asked.

"Emily," the girl said.

Ryou then held out a hand. "Why don't we go find the others, Emily- _chan_?" he said.

Emily grinned and placed her tiny hand in Ryou's and let the white-haired boy lead her out of the room where they began to search for the other children.

They found Sana and Bianca, the two oldest of the children staying at the foster home, pretty easily and were now searching throughout the entire house for the third time trying to find Judai and Takumi.

"Those two are always the best at this game but that's 'cause they're small enough to fit into places no one would normally be able to fit in," Bianca said, peering into a closet and then closing the door when she didn't find anything.

"Yeah, one time they didn't come out until Akane- _san_ called for lunch," Sana said.

Ryou chuckled. "Well, let's see if we can find them before then," he suggested.

The three girls nodded and began looking again.

They found Takumi first hiding in the tub of one of the bathrooms. He peered at them with a pout. "Aw, why do you always find me before Judai- _kun_?" he whined.

Bianca chuckled. "Guess Judai- _kun_ 's better at hiding than you," she said.

"Is not."

Bianca patted Takumi's head as he scowled at her, or, at least, tried to. For one as young as he, it came out more like a pout.

"Let's go find Judai- _kun_ ," Sana said.

Takumi nodded and they started searching for Judai again.

That was how Ryou's dad, Judai's social worker and Akane found them about five minutes later. They were currently looking through the master bedroom on the second floor of the house; Emily and Takumi were under the bed, why no one knew, and Bianca and Sana were looking into the bathroom or the closet respectively.

"Ryou?"

Ryou glanced at his dad. " _Tou_ - _san_ ," he replied politely.

"What are you doing?" his dad asked confused.

"Finding Judai- _kun_."

" _Finding_ Judai- _kun_?"

"We're playing hide and seek and he's good at hiding," Ryou said with a shrug.

"That he is," Akane said amused. "It once took the other children twenty minutes to find Judai- _kun_ and they only found him because Takumi- _kun_ cheated and shouted that I was serving fried shrimp for lunch."

"Hey, that's an idea," Takumi said eagerly as he crawled out from under the bed. He then shouted, " _Judai-_ kun _! Akane-_ san _'s making fried shrimp for lunch!_ "

"Do you honestly think that'll work twice, Takumi- _kun_?" Sana asked.

"Fried shrimp? _Yay_!" Judai shouted eagerly as he appeared next to Ryou, causing the white-haired boy to jump since he had not heard Judai coming at all. Yami Bakura burst out laughing in the back of his head.

Sana blinked. "Huh, I didn't think that'd actually work," she admitted.

"It's Judai- _kun_ we're talking about," Bianca said dryly.

Akane sighed. "Well, I suppose I have to make fried shrimp for lunch today," she said. She glanced at Rina, Isamu and Ryou before adding, "Would you like to stay for lunch?"

"That would be nice," Isamu said with a smile while Judai wandered over to join Takumi and poked him.

"Tag!" He shouted and dashed off, slipping between the adults and Ryou as he did so.

Takumi immediately chased after Judai, also slipping nimbly between the adults and Ryou.

"I wanna play too!" Emily shouted and also ran off after the other two children.

"Bianca- _chan_ , please go keep an eye on them," Akane said.

Bianca nodded and followed after the three children.

 **. . .**

About an hour later, it was time for lunch. Akane and Bianca worked together to make sure all the children had washed their hands and were waiting for Akane to hand out the plates of dinner. Ryou was seated by Judai who had grabbed his hand and dragged him over to that seat while Isamu was smiling to himself.

 _Judai has taken a liking to Ryou,_ he thought to himself, glancing at Judai who was eyeing the plate of fried shrimp Akane had placed in front of him with big eyes, though he didn't start eating until after everyone had been served.

"Hey, I recognize you now," Sana said suddenly, eagerly, pointing at Ryou.

Ryou blinked. "You do?" he said.

"Yeah, you were in the Battle City Finals, weren't you?"

Judai perked up at that while Ryou smiled, wishing he remembered more about Battle City than he did.

"Yes, I was, though I didn't last quite that long," he admitted.

"Bianca thinks that if you hadn't been up against Yugi, you could've gone pretty far in the tournament," Sana said.

"You're a duelist?" Judai asked, eyes bright with excitement.

Ryou glanced at him and smiled before nodding.

"Sweet! What kind of deck do you use? Do you know Mutou Yugi? What about Kaiba Seto? Katsuya Jonouchi? What was Battle City like? Do you have a favorite card? I do. Mine's Yubel. She's awesome. What's yours?" All of that was said so rapidly that Ryou's head was spinning as he attempted to separate each question and statement while Yami Bakura was growling in the back of his head.

\ _He's annoying!_ / The spirit of the Millennium Ring said curtly.

 _He's six,_ Ryou said.

\ _So?_ /

Ryou resisted the urge to sigh out loud.

"Calm down, Judai- _kun_ ," Takumi laughed, patting his excited friend on the shoulder.

"Judai- _kun_ 's a huge Duel Monsters fan," Sana explained.

"Obviously," Bianca said with a fond smile at the excited Judai who was gazing at Ryou, waiting for him to answer his questions while Ryou had finally managed to determine what said questions were.

He smiled back at the small boy. "I use an Occult deck actually," he said, briefly explaining what Occult was when Judai gave him a puzzled look. "And yes, I do know Yugi- _kun_ , Jonouchi- _kun_ and Kaiba- _san_ , though not that well. Battle City was..." He shrugged. He really couldn't answer that since he couldn't remember much of Battle City, only facing down Osiris now that he thought about it. "It was okay. My favorite card is actually Change of Heart. So yours is Yubel? I don't believe I've heard of that card before."

Judai beamed before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a single card, holding it out for Ryou to see. He studied the Fiend-type half-male, half-female purple skinned monster with the demonic black wings. _Zero Attack and Defense but a Level 10?_ Ryou read the card's effect and raised an eyebrow. _That's a pretty amazing effect._

\ _It is,_ / Yami Bakura admitted grudgingly.

Ryou blinked, surprised. Did Yami Bakura just _compliment_ something?

\ _I_ agreed _with something you said. There's a difference, yadonushi_ ,/ Yami Bakura grunted.

 _Not really._

\\... _Shut up._ /

Ryou smirked to himself as he handed the card back to Judai. "That's a pretty neat card," he said quietly.

"Yeah, she's awesome," Judai said with a fond smile at the card he held in his hand before his eyes grew sad. " _Kaa_ - _san_ and _Tou_ - _san_ gave her to me for my birthday before they..." He trailed off and tears appeared in his eyes.

\ _Oh that little brat better not start crying,_ / Yami Bakura muttered

Ryou ignored him as he gently curled an arm around the little boy. "It's okay, Judai- _kun_ ," he said gently. "Your _Kaa_ - _san_ and _Tou_ - _san_ are probably watching over you right now."

"Really?" Judai asked, gazing up at him with teary eyes.

"Yes, you may not see or hear them but I'm sure they are watching over you," Ryou said with a sympathetic smile at Judai who gave him a tentative smile back, using the hand that wasn't holding the card to wipe away the tears.

Isamu watched with a small, proud smile on his face, glad that Ryou and Judai got along well despite only just meeting earlier that day. Isamu wondered if perhaps Ryou saw himself and Amane when they were that young in Judai. Isamu's smile turned a little sad as he thought about his daughter.

"Can I see your favorite card?" Judai asked.

"I don't have it with me at the moment," Ryou admitted.

"Oh." Judai deflated and then beamed before asking, "Will you show it to me someday?"

Ryou smiled back at the little boy and nodded.

"Yay!"

 **. . .**

After lunch, the children all went outside while the adults remained in the kitchen to discuss some more about what was to happen. Ryou had been dragged away by the children, much to his amused exasperation, and was currently in the backyard playing tag with them.

"He's really good with children," Akane commented.

"He is," Isamu admitted a bit surprised. He supposed the time he spent at his job meant he didn't spend nearly enough time with his son and so didn't know him as well as he should. He didn't even know his son had participated in that Duel Monsters tournament that only ended a few weeks ago. He resolved to try to get to know his son more during this vacation he had taken from his job.

Rina glanced at him. "All right, so we've determined that you can support both your son and Judai- _kun_ financially and your son seems to get along wonderfully with Judai- _kun_ ," she said. "Also, your sister's Will does give you automatic custody of your nephew."

"Will? I didn't realize Mika had prepared a Will. She wasn't that old," Isamu said. It was true; Mika was only twenty seven when she was killed.

"Do you suppose she thought something like this would end up happening?" Rina asked concerned.

"Not that I know of. I haven't spoken to her since after Judai- _kun_ was born," Isamu admitted.

"Well, I do know that Yuki Mika- _san_ and Yuki Tadashi- _san_ 's deaths are being looked into since the murderer did get away," Rina said. "I'm surprised they didn't try to get a hold of you."

"It's possible that they did while I was in Egypt, though I do wonder why Ryou didn't tell me," Isamu said just as the kitchen door slid open and a mud-covered Ryou poked his sheepishly smiling head into the room.

"They dragged you into a water fight, didn't they?" Akane said.

Ryou nodded. "Do you have any towels? They're using the hose to wash off most of the mud," he said.

"I'll get some," Akane said, getting to her feet and leaving the kitchen.

"Ryou?" Isamu said.

"Yes?"

"Did the police ever come to speak to you while I was in Egypt in the last couple of weeks?"

Ryou blinked, trying to think back to whether or not the police had come by to speak to him or not. "No, I do remember Nakamura- _san_ calling me asking about you but I don't remember the police ever coming by. Why?" he asked.

 _Did they while you were in control and that's why I don't remember?_ Ryou asked.

There was a scoff. \ _I haven't taken control since Battle City,_ / Yami Bakura said and muttered something that sounded vaguely like 'damn Yami Marik and his fucking Penalty Game'.

"They should have," Rina said with a frown. "You and Bakura- _san_ are Yuki Mika- _san_ 's family. They should have been the one to inform you of what happened, especially since the culprit got away."

"Why didn't they?" Ryou wondered.

"I suppose you'll have to take that up with the police," Rina said. "I'll contact them and see why they didn't come to speak to you about this."

"Thank you," Isamu said.

Akane came back and held out a stack of towels to Ryou who nodded his thanks and disappeared back outside to help clean and dry the children. She then retook her seat at the kitchen table and turned to Rina and Isamu.

"So you live in Domino City, right?" she said.

Isamu nodded. "It's only a train ride away from here," he said, "so you and the other children are welcomed to visit. I've noticed that Judai- _kun_ is very good friends with them."

"That he is. I think he'll be happy knowing he can still keep in contact with and see them every now and then," Akane said.

Ryou, Bianca and Sana, each carrying a happy six- or seven-year-old wrapped up in a large fluffy towel, entered the kitchen, both of them still wet but, at least, they were no longer muddy.

"You look like you had fun," Akane said.

"We did," Judai said eagerly and then shook his head, sending water droplets from his hair flying into Ryou's face.

Ryou laughed. "Judai- _kun_ , I'm already wet enough as it is," he complained, though the smile on his face showed he wasn't being serious.

Judai giggled.

"We'll go get them changed into dryer clothes," Bianca said.

"I'll just dry off my own clothes as best I can," Ryou said. "I wasn't expecting to get dragged into a water fight."

"The kids do love having water fights," Akane said with a shake of her head as she stood up. "Let me see if I can find some spare clothes for you. My _nii-san_ is about your age and often visits. He usually keeps several spare clothes here just in case."

" _Arigatou_ , Akimoto- _san_."

"Please, call me Akane," Akane said and left the kitchen.

 **. . .**

It took a good hour to get all the kids dried and in dry clothes and, thankfully, Akane had manage to find a spare set of clothes for Ryou that fit him, though they were a bit too big but Ryou figured they were better than the wet clothes he had on earlier. He had to admit he did have fun playing with the children, even if he wasn't expecting to get soaked in the process.

" _Arigatou_ , Akane- _san_ ," he said politely to Akane as he joined her, his dad, Rina and the other children in the living room.

She smiled at him. "You're welcome," she said.

"It's getting rather late and the train is going to be leaving soon," Isamu said.

Judai suddenly looked sad as he glanced at his friends. "Do I have to leave now?" he asked.

Akane knelt down in front of Judai. "Do you want to go live with your uncle and cousin, Judai- _kun_?" she asked gently.

Judai bit his lip. "I don't wanna leave you," he said sadly.

"I know. You knew this day would come, Judai- _kun_ , but Rina- _san_ will take your wants into consideration. Do you want to live with them?"

Judai glanced off to the side as if he was looking at something only he could see before he turned to Ryou and Isamu.

Takumi came forward and slung an arm around Judai's shoulders. "You should go," he said. "They're your family after all."

"Yeah, family should stay with family," Sana said.

"It's not like we'll never see each other again," Bianca added.

"We will see each other again, right?" Emily asked with big eyes.

"Yes, you will. Bakura- _san_ already said that all of us are welcome to visit," Akane said.

The other children cheered and Judai smiled at them and then glanced off to the side before nodding to himself. "Okay," he said, glancing at his uncle and cousin. "Am I going to live with them now?"

"Not yet," Rina said to him and then looked at Akane. "We still have to finish off some things to finalize the custody, though, because of the Will and because I believe Bakura- _san_ is a suitable guardian for Judai- _kun_ , the finalization shouldn't take too long. It'll still take a couple of days so why not next weekend?"

"That sounds fine," Akane said.

 **. . .**

The following weekend came by quickly and Akane was surprised and pleased to see that Judai wasn't upset about the idea of leaving anymore. She supposed it helped that the other children assured him that they would see him again. She smiled as she watched the little boy she had only known for less than a month play with the other children while they waited for Bakura and his son to come pick up Judai.

She had received word that morning that no one contested the custody switch, everything was finalized and custody of Judai had switched to Bakura Isamu. She was sad to see the little boy go but she knew that he would be happy with his family just as he was with them and she knew that Isamu Bakura would take care of his nephew to the best of his ability. Mika would be happy knowing her son was being taken care of by the very people she trusted enough to name as Judai's guardians in her Will.

She frowned as she thought about Mika's Will. Mika was only twenty-seven when she was murdered along with her husband; she was very healthy and had a good paying job that gave her and her husband and child a comfortable, if somewhat luxurious, life. So why did she have a Will prepared? Did she think something like this was going to happen?

Mika wasn't an overly cautious person. Akane knew that. She has known Mika for years and knew that Mika was not one to just write a Will when she was still so young, not unless she knew something no one else did.

Not unless she knew that there was someone coming after her.

 _Did Mika know this would happen?_ She thought. She honestly didn't see why else someone like Mika would write a Will at her age.

She turned to Judai who was laughing at some story Sana was telling him and the other children and bit her lip. _Hopefully I'm wrong,_ she thought. _And hopefully Judai will remain safe with his uncle and cousin._

"Judai- _kun_?" she called.

Judai looked up. "Yeah, Akane- _san_?" he said.

"Do you have everything?" Akane nodded toward where Judai's stuff was placed near the door.

Judai started to nod and then paused. He then got to his feet before scampering over to his duffel bag and a smaller bag that lay on top of it. He picked up the small one and opened it, searching through it and breathing a sigh of relief when he pulled out one thing that, unlike Yubel, he didn't carry with him all the time. It was a plain silver rectangular shaped locket and, inside, Akane knew was a picture of his parents and him when he was a baby.

He didn't wear it mostly because he didn't want to lose it. Akane only saw it when he had first been brought to the foster home and hadn't seen it since then, which was why she had forgotten about it until Judai went to make sure he still had it.

Judai clicked the locket open and gazed at the picture of his parents and him when he was a baby before smiling sadly, closing the locket and returning it to the small bag. "Thought I didn't put that in there," he said as he closed the bag and placed it back on top of the duffel bag.

There was a knock on the door and Akane walked over to answer it, opening the door to reveal Isamu Bakura with his son standing just behind him. "Hello, Bakura- _san_ , come on in," Akane said.

Isamu and Ryou stepped into the living room. "Akane- _san_ ," Isamu said, inclining his head in greeting. "I'm sorry we won't be able to stay long but our train leaves in an hour and we should get moving."

"Of course," Akane said.

Judai scampered over to the other children and hugged Takumi.

"Group hug!" Sana called and immediately she, Emily and Bianca crowded around Judai and Takumi, hugging them. Judai practically disappeared amidst the other children, his laughter could be heard from the middle of the group though.

After a few minutes, they released him and he scampered over to join Akane before hugging her legs. She knelt down and wrapped her arms around the little boy, holding him close. Whether she only took care of him for a month or for years, it didn't matter. She would always remember him and, like any other child that came into her care, he would always hold a special place in her heart.

"I'll miss you," Judai said, voice muffled since his small face was buried in Akane's chest.

"I will too," Akane said. "But we'll see each other again."

Judai leaned back and gazed up at Akane. "Promise?"

"I promise."

 **. . .**

 **1: Well, on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki site, it says Bakura's birthday is September 2** **nd** **so I'm just keeping that. As for his age, eh, for the purposes of this story, that's how old he is, even if he is not that age in canon.**

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: well, that was the first chapter of** _ **The Ties That Bind**_

 **Bakura: I was hardly in it**

 **Blaze: oh calm down, you actually play a big role in this story**

 **Bakura: oh? And what do you plan on doing?**

 **Blaze: you'll see. Anyway, I'm also using the Japanese names for this story and I hope that I've used the honorifics correctly, though Judai doesn't use them except with Akane because, in the subbed version of GX, Judai rarely ever used honorifics. I did look it up and I** _ **think**_ **I did it right.**

 **Ryou: I'm sure you did**

 **Blaze: well, I hope so anyway. Also, in terms of the investigation and why no one informed the Bakuras...whether that would actually happen in real life or not, it's done this way for the purposes of the story (meaning, it's connected with the plot)**

 **Yugi: what happens next?**

 **Blaze: based on the outline, it's three meetings that are so completely different from each other, I had to write all of them out, though I did have fun with the second one since that's where I get to include the beginnings of Thiefshipping (which is a huge hint of what occurs during that meeting)**

 **Bakura: Thiefshipping? Well, better than Darkshipping**

 **Blaze: believe me, I couldn't actually decide which one I wanted to include in this story (since I like both pairings) but I eventually decided on Thiefshipping and I'm sticking to it. So I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**


End file.
